(Photo: Sam Martin – Aston Images)
Richard Jepp, at the wheel of the #65 Team Northbrook Racing Peugeot 107, took pole position at Silverstone for the penultimate round of the 2023 Student Motorsport Challenge, part of the BRSCC Nankang Tyre CityCar Cup Championship. Jepp lapped the 1.85 miles (2.98 kms) of the Silverstone International circuit in 1:31.141, just over a tenth of a second quicker than Liam Browning in the #91 Boston College Racing Citroen C1 who put in a 1:31.293.
Third quickest in the Challenge class was the #11 Barracksport Citroen of Andy Dyer who lapped in 1:31.349 to quality 9th on the overall grid.
Qualifying got underway in perfect conditions at the home of British motorsport. Richard Jepp immediately went to the top of the timing screens with a 1:32.170 on his second lap with Jack Wheeler second in class and fifth overall with a 1:32.764. West Suffolk College’s Haydn Payne was also in the top ten quickest overall and third in the Challenge class with a 1:32.764 in the opening minutes.
After five minutes Jepp had improved by overall second with a 1:31.141 to stay on the overall provisional pole, a time .3 of a second quicker than his class pole position in 2022.
Arthur Simondet moved up to a provisional second in class with a 1:32.312 on his fourth lap.
As the 15-minute session entered the final five minutes, Jepp remained on overall pole followed by Jack Wheeler, 10th overall and second in class with a 1:32.035. As the minutes ticked down and grip increased on the Silverstone International circuit, Liam Browning in the #91 Boston College Racing entry moved to second in the Challenge class with a 1:31.559 followed by Andy Dyer in the #11 Barracksport Citroen who put in a 1:31.565.
As the chequered flag came out to end the 15-minute session, Richard Jepp was confirmed as taking pole position in the Student Motorsport Challenge class, his second on the Silverstone International circuit with a time that was nearly three-tenths quicker than his class pole position in 2022.
Completing the Challenge grid was Jack Wheeler in the #57 East Surrey College entry with a 1:31.613, Haydn Payne in the #72 West Suffolk College Toyota Aygo with a 1:31.860 and, 6th in class, Arthur Simondet in the #12 QE Motorsports Citroen with a 1:32.175.
Wiltshire College and University Centre’s Emilia Vincent finished 7th in class, followed by Ben Shaw in the #9 Coleg Gwent Newport Citroen and James Smith in the #49 Barracksport GSR entry.
Richard Jepp was delighted to take his Challenge pole position at Silverstone.
“It was great!” said the TNR pilot. “The pace of the car was good and our testing on Friday definitely paid off. The car felt really stable. We’ve been plagued with engine troubles for the second half of the season and although they’re still there a little bit, it feels like the engine is improving. I’m looking forward to starting from the Student Motorsport Challenge pole position this afternoon.”
Racing gets underway for the Student Motorsport Challenge at 2.15pm on Sunday October the 8th with the lights going out for the final race of the 2023 season at 5.10pm.
